March 21, Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, & Gospel: Luke 4:24-30
God acts with power to set us free from sin and hurtful desires, fear, and oppression. When we read the Scriptures, we note that God performs mighty acts to save His people from death and destruction. God rescued Noah’s family with the ark from the flood of wickedness. Moses and the Israelites passed through the parting waters of the Red Sea as they fled from the hands of the armies of Pharoah, their enslaver and oppressor.
In addition, when we read the Gospel accounts, we see that Jesus praised individuals who put their faith in God as they did not forget the great and beautiful deeds. Jesus even gave words of praise to outsiders—non-Jews and pagans from other lands who had heard about the miracles of the God of Israel. One example Jesus gave was Naaman, the pagan army commander from Syria who was a leper.
Naaman's slave-girl was a young Jewish woman who trusted God. Jesus had compassion for Naaman, her master. She encouraged him to seek healing from Elisha, the great prophet of Israel. Leprosy is a debilitating skin disease that slowly eats away the flesh (2 Kings 5:1–15). When Naaman went to the land of Israel to get cured of his leprosy, the prophet Elisha guided him to take a bath seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman was bothered at first but repented and followed the prophet's guidelines. In doing so, he was immediately healed in body and spirit.
Today, physical leprosy is rare in human society. A few lepers are found. But mental leprosy, such as envy, hatred, greed, jealousy, anger, etc., is often present in human hearts. To cure these diseases, one must trust in God’s healing power. God can act with His healing power to liberate us from our mental leprosy.
Let us continue to believe that God acts with His healing power in our lives so that our mental leprosy may be healed.
What is one thing God is calling you to do today? Give up mental leprosy?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
